Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2000-10-03-Speech-2-050"
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"en.20001003.2.2-050"2
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"Mr President, Mr President of the Commission, Mr President-in-Office, ladies and gentlemen, in experiencing the adoption of the Charter of Fundamental Rights in the European Parliament we are seeing history in the making. The completion of this work is an important milestone in the history of the European Union, particularly for the people who live there. The work of the Convention under the leadership of the former German President, Roman Herzog, is to be welcomed. At this stage I should also like to thank Dr Ingo Friedrich who played a leading role in our group's contribution to the work of the Convention.
But I should like once again to ask a very clear question here: do we want to create a charter of all immutable and inalienable human rights? Or do we want a wish list containing everything that would be nice? Are free education and free access to a job centre fundamental rights on the same footing as the right to life or human dignity? In Germany an extensive list of fundamental rights already existed in the Weimar constitution which, however, because it was so extensive, degenerated into a simple set of targets which could not be legally enforced. That must not happen here. We want to ensure that the fundamental rights of the European public are genuinely protected.
With an eye to recent events, the issue of petrol prices also seems to me to be particularly noteworthy. The current situation, which is intolerable, particularly for many independent haulage firms and for agriculture, does in any case need to be improved. It is not enough for the finance ministers to swear in Versailles that they will not lower taxes, only for the countries where the protests are loudest to give in afterwards.
The Intergovernmental Conference – to address a third subject – on the reform of the European institutions is also of decisive significance for us in Parliament. Majority voting can only be extended in the Council if at the same time the European Parliament's powers of codecision are widened. Any other procedure would mean a huge democratic deficit. Responsibilities must be clearly delimited. Provision for social, cultural and charitable causes must be included in Article 87 so that the future of these important institutions can also be permanently safeguarded."@en1
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